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By Eva Simpson, Acting Deputy Editor, thelondonpaper

In recent weeks, it seems that hardly a day goes by without another shocking knife related murder or stabbing. The truth is every 50 minutes there is a knife crime in London. This frightening statistic highlights the scale of the knife crisis blighting the streets of our city.

The knife crimes - 'knife-enabled incidents' in police-speak - range from murders to muggings where blades are used to intimidate victims. It includes the tragic killing of 21 teenagers, this year according to figures from Scotland Yard, City of London Police and British Transport Police.

Death by numbers

While knife crime between April 2007 and March 2008 fell by 15.7 per cent across London, an internal Scotland Yard report reveals that the murder rate for victims aged 20 and under has trebled in the three years from 2005 to 2007.

thelondonpaper's Eva Simpson

It found also that most youth crime happens between 3pm and 5pm, as kids leave school and head home. The biggest rise is in victims under ten, the latest of which were Shanjayan Navaneethan, five, and his four-year-old sister Sharani, who were stabbed to death at their home in Carshalton last month.

In one month alone, hundreds of knife-carrying thugs were stopped by police in London. A total of 319 people - 228 adults and 91 youths under 18 - were found in possession of a sharp instrument by Met police during April, representing an average month.

Operation Blunt 2

Recent pledges by Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair and Prime Minister Gordon Brown to prosecute anyone caught carrying a weapon notwithstanding, almost one in five of those stopped was not charged with an offence. Instead they were allowed to go free with just a caution, warning or reprimand.

The April figures do not include the more than 200 people who have been arrested for knife possession since the Met launched the 拢1m Operation Blunt 2 in the wake of the May killings of 16-year-old Jimmy Mizen, who was stabbed to death in a bakery in Lee, south east London, and Steven Bigby, 22, who was fatally knifed on Oxford Street after a row in McDonald's.

The crackdown also led to the recovery of more than 200 weapons, the most common of which was a kitchen knife, in just 16 days after police began using X-ray arches and weapon wands to randomly stop and search people in knife crime hotspots.

Mothers Against Murder & Aggression

But campaigners say that the figures are just the tip of the iceberg and hundreds of thugs are routinely arming themselves before taking to the streets.

Lyn Costello, from Mothers Against Murder and Aggression, said: "These figures show the real scale of the problem facing police. It's scary."

"Increased stop-and-search powers, knife arches and hard-hitting advertising campaigns are all things we support," said Costello.

"But nothing will change until people caught with knives are automatically given a four-year prison sentence. I meet 15-year-olds who think they will get off with a warning if they are caught with a knife and that has to change."

City Hall's response

Whether they are flawed or not, the statistics have shocked the public and politicians alike, and the new City Hall administration has placed cracking the knife culture at the top of its agenda.

Deputy Mayor Kit Malthouse, Boris Johnson's most senior adviser on policing, said: "Knife crime is a stain on our city and everybody is shocked by statistics like this and the level of violence we are seeing, particularly towards young people in London."

But he warned that there is no 'magic solution' to halting the growing numbers of teenagers being stabbed.

"We have already put resources into a major increase in police presence on public transport in an effort to stamp out antisocial behaviour, increase public safety and deter those intent on violence from moving around the capital."

"There is no magic solution to the terrifying spate of teenagers being murdered by knife and gun crime. But immediate measures that have to be enforced include using stop-and-search and prosecuting everyone found carrying knives."

"This is just part of an overall strategy to tackle knife crime but it sends out a clear signal that knife and gang crime will not be tolerated."

"It is also imperative that we look at why so many young men and increasingly women are growing up angry and disengaged from society. We need to offer them outlets and guidance that will respond to their aspirations and divert them away from gangs and antisocial behaviour, whether it is sporting activities, after school clubs or mentoring," he added.